


Twin Inclinations

by thoughtful_constellations



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, so it's not really plot driven it's just a drabble, spoilers for Story & Song
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-24 00:11:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16169606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thoughtful_constellations/pseuds/thoughtful_constellations
Summary: A slightly more detailed examination of the twins' childhood and what drove them to each particular field of magic.





	Twin Inclinations

Since childhood, which was many years for their race, the twins had been passed from place to place, never staying long enough for any one adult to form true parental bonds with them. They were another problem to resolve, another mouth to feed, not two children in need of love and attention. The two quickly learned that the only family they had was each other, regardless of whatever blood they shared with the resident of each temporary living space they inhabited.

Lup quickly grew to resent the world and their place in it. That wasn’t to say Taako was satisfied, but he detached himself from negative feelings; besides, Lup always felt everything with enough passion for the both of them.

It was she who convinced him, when they were of age, to escape the constant half-hearted supervision they were used to and embark on a quest of their independent survival.

Though they both were physically skilled, their Elven heritage allowing them to move quickly and with great dexterity, they could find no work in the villages and towns they passed through. Ignorant humans saw them as children, and elves saw them as brash and inexperienced in comparison to their own many years.

Desperate, low on food and supplies, they joined a traveling caravan.

It was their limited knowledge of cooking, picked up from an aunt who had invested in them slightly more than anyone else, that landed them a position with the caravan’s chef. As apprentices. They weren’t well paid, but they were fed and sheltered, and they were together.

They began to learn, Taako quickly understanding the complexities of experimentation and the crafting of unique recipes, while Lup’s work in quickly preparing ingredients was unparalleled. It soon became easy to make friends with the other members of the caravan because, well, who doesn’t love the person that brings them good food?

Traveling with such a diverse and unique cast of beings made it possible to learn a variety of skills, and while mastering cooking the twins also discovered a knack for the arcane arts.

Taako’s initial ventures into magic were born from pride. Transmutation was the fastest road to looking good — they certainly didn’t have the money for that. He hated to feel inferior; in fact, he considered himself better than most everyone he met, regardless of their craft or upbringing, and he wanted his clothes to emulate that. So he used magic to glamour his appearance, maintaining a look of elegance and class in every city they visited. He was taken for a conceited narcissist by their friends, but Lup knew he was compensating for his numerous insecurities. He also loved to be adored, a sentiment he’d rarely felt in the past.

Lup’s affinity for evocation sprung from more hotheaded tendencies. Her anger towards the way in which this world had treated her drove her to feel a fierce loyalty to her brother exclusively, and she would go to any length to protect him.

She also just _loved_ setting shit on fire.

It was her who started the fires in the caravan’s kitchen, and during bonfire events, and it was her who scarred the faces of men who cornered Taako and her in the streets looking for money (and sometimes worse than that).

She scared Taako with her recklessness, and she knew it, but she also knew that he relied on her to get them out of scrapes he couldn’t talk them out of. And boy, could she make him laugh; casting shadow puppets on the ground, setting their ringleader’s hair on fire and sprinting away, always a constant light in the darkness he felt.

Years later, more than Taako knew to count, fire was...a calming presence to him. He could never guess why, but cooking over a stove, watching the fire flame up in the dorm rooms at the Bureau — the orange glow comforted him. The Umbrestaff, too, seemed to feel it, thrumming where it rested in his hands or lap as if it sensed the innate magical properties of the light burning through log after log in the fires he lit on late nights when he couldn’t sleep.

Until there he was, blinking in the light of the dramatic explosions of an elf who had been sorely missed and knew it. Lup’s returning flames burned hotter on his skin than they ever had, melting through his painful resentment of Lucretia, turning to ash the freshly returned memories of sleepless nights spent pacing hopelessly on the Starblaster’s deck with Barry.

His sister was back.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first TAZ work I've done, so it's more of a character study than anything else. I'll try to write other stuff in the future
> 
> follow me on tumblr! @officialmcelroy


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